Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien (On PSU’s defense against Johnson in 2nd half) “They didn’t do much different. They packed it in a little more, but he got 13 shots and 10 free throws. They did pack it in, but we had a hard time finding him. We still tried to get the ball into him.

“Our inability to guard the perimeter, something we’ve talked about the last couple of days. But this game was not just about the perimeter. (Tyler) Smith and (Gyasi) Cline-Heard got a lot of shots.

(On importance of game) “The game was not any more important to them as it was to us. We talked about the game to our guys. They had the prospect of going 0-3, but we had the prospect of going 1-2. We absolutely talked to our guys about this game. The shots they (PSU) took tonight were nothing abnormal about what Penn State does. The problem we have with guarding these guys is they’re not only capable of shooting the three, but they can go by you.

(On 3-point shooting) “Their three perimeter guys have the green light whenever they want it. They take jump shots and when the (`J’s) are going, it is very tough to guard them.”

(On Penn State’s approach) “We definitely knew they would come ready to play because they were 0-2. You don’t want to be three in the hole in the Big Ten. They have tough games down the road, so they were thinking that they’ve got to win at Ohio State.”

Ken Johnson (On OSU’s play) “We’ve got to get mentally tougher, make follow-up shots and do a better job guarding the perimeter. (On PSU) “They had already lost two conference games. We knew they would come in fired up. We have to play tougher.”

Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn “We need to have people step up when people struggle. Titus Ivory hit some big shots and Tyler Smith has made a big difference for us this year. We’re not going to be perfect from the 3-point line every night. We need other guys to step up.

(On Johnson) “We tried to play him straight-up in the first half. We did a decent job, not a great job. He got too many touches. We tried to stop Johnson in the second half by showing different looks. We doubled down a little lower. We had some guys in foul trouble and we hoped to keep them out of further foul trouble.”

Joe Crispin (On his shooting) “If I see a guy’s head down and my feet are set, I feel pretty comfortable. Any time I get a good look at the basket, I take it.